Laurel Rodent Control
Family-owned & local since 1968
Mice in the kitchen or rats by the trash cans? Our 4-step rodent protocol clears them out of Laurel homes, with follow-up visits and unlimited free callbacks.
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From Your Laurel Neighbors
Trusted Rodent Control in Laurel, MD — in Our Customers' Words
Hear what Northern Virginia and Maryland homeowners have to say about our service — in their own words. Real customers from real homes, sharing why they trust Better Termite with what matters most.
- Homes protected
- 100k+
- Google reviews
- 4.9★
- Years local
- 58+
Why Better Termite
Rodent Control in Laurel you can trust — from $49/mo with no binding contracts.
Lower-Impact Products
Hand-picked, EPA-approved treatments selected by our research team — without 9 of the harshest products still used by most companies.
Local Rodent Control Experts
Family-owned since 1968, with 300+ years of combined experience protecting Laurel homes. A licensed local tech answers the phone.
The Better Promise
Unlimited free re-services and no binding contracts — we keep coming back until your problem is gone. Cancel anytime with 30 days notice.
About Better Termite
Rodent Control for Laurel Homes, From Main Street to Russett
Mouse and rat help from a family-owned company since 1968
It usually starts small. A few black specks in the silverware drawer. A bag of dog food with a corner chewed off. Then one night somebody in the house hears it running inside the wall, and nobody wants to go in the basement anymore.
Laurel gives rodents a lot to work with. It is a 200-year-old mill town on the Patuxent River, with a rail line and Route 1 running straight through the middle and three counties' worth of neighborhoods wrapped around it. Old stone foundations, restaurant dumpsters, and river woods all sit within a few blocks of each other.
Better Termite & Pest Control has been getting rodents out of DC-area homes since 1968. When you call, a licensed technician answers and walks you through what to do next. Every plan comes with unlimited free callbacks and no binding contract.
Local Knowledge
Why a Patuxent River Mill Town Has So Many Mice and Rats
Laurel was first called Laurel Factory. It grew up around cotton mills that ran on the Patuxent River, and the railroad came through in 1835. That history still shapes where rodents live in town today.
The river. Riverfront Park follows the Patuxent for more than 30 acres, from the old dam ruins up to Route 1, through wetlands and woods. West of town is Rocky Gorge Reservoir. In the middle of town, Granville Gude Park wraps 29 acres around two lakes. All of that is cover and water for mice and rats. When the weather turns cold, the ones living along the banks head for the nearest warm building.
The rail line and Route 1. The MARC Camden Line and Route 1 cut through the center of Laurel side by side. Rail beds and drainage ditches give rats a protected path to travel, and the restaurants and grocery stores along Route 1 and Route 198 give them food. In 2023, after neighbors near Sandy Spring Road reported rats, city inspectors went door to door handing out Laurel's rodent control guide. A city official told the local paper that rat problems are not unusual in the city and are best handled when neighbors work together (Streetcar Suburbs News).
The houses. A few blocks of Main Street still have stone and brick mill workers' houses from the 1840s. One of them is now the Laurel Museum. Around them are frame houses more than a century old. Then come the later rings: Laurel Lakes from the 1980s, Russett from the mid-1990s. Each era of building leaves its own gaps, and mice find all of them. For a wider look at the species involved, see our guide to rats in Maryland.
Rodent Control
Mice or Rats? What Laurel Homeowners Are Usually Dealing With
The treatment is different for each, so the first job is knowing which one is in your house. The droppings tell you most of it.
Mice
Mouse droppings are about 1/4 inch long, dark, and pointed at both ends. You find them in drawers, under the sink, along the back of the pantry shelf, and on the basement sill. Mice are the usual culprit in Laurel houses, from the old frame homes off Montgomery Street to the townhomes in Laurel Lakes and Russett. Homes near the river woods also get white-footed mice, which live outdoors most of the year and move in when it gets cold. Our post on field mice vs. house mice shows how to tell them apart.
Rats
Rat droppings are about twice that size, roughly half an inch, and shaped like a capsule with blunt ends. Norway rats dig. Look for fist-wide burrow holes under sheds, along fences, beside the trash cans, and under the concrete of a back stoop. In Laurel they turn up most near the commercial strips and in the older, tighter blocks close to Main Street and the tracks.
Not sure what you found? Compare it against our rodent droppings chart, or just call us and describe it. Either way, do not wait on it. Rodents carry disease, chew wiring, and breed fast, and a problem that sits for a season is much harder to clear than one caught in the first few weeks.
Rodent Control
How Mice and Rats Get Into Laurel Houses
Daren, one of our technicians, gives every customer the same test. If you can fit the tip of your pinky finger into a gap, a mouse can get through it. That is about the size of a dime. For a rat, it is about the width of your thumb. Most people are shocked. They assumed the hole had to be much bigger. Here is more on how small a hole a mouse can fit through.
Where those gaps are depends a lot on when your part of Laurel was built:
- Historic district houses: Stone and brick foundations with worn mortar, old coal chutes and cellar doors, and a century of plumbing and wiring changes that each left a hole behind.
- Mid-century homes in West Laurel and South Laurel: Garage door corners, the gap where the gas or AC line comes through the wall, crawl space vents, and siding that has pulled away at the bottom course.
- Townhomes in Laurel Lakes, Russett, and North Laurel: Shared walls. In attached homes the firewall between units is not always fully closed, so mice can move from one unit to the next. You can do everything right at your own house and still pick up a neighbor's mice.
- Everywhere: Mulch piled thick against the foundation. Mice nest under it and work along the wall where you cannot see them.
Rodent Control
Our 4-Step Rodent Protocol for Laurel Homes
Most people who call us have already bought traps. They caught two or three mice, things went quiet for a week, and then the droppings came back. Rodent control fails when it stops too early. Our protocol is built around that.
- Inspect. Before anything goes down, we inspect the whole house for hot spots: droppings, gnawing, rub marks, live sightings. We also look for what is feeding them, like pet food, bird seed, and pantry goods, and for clutter they can hide in.
- Bait. Tamper-proof rodent stations go near the hot spots. Baiting is our main tool for mice. For rats inside a home we mostly use snap traps instead, because a rat that eats bait and dies inside a wall leaves a smell you will not forget.
- Follow up. We come back early in the process to check what has been eaten and move or add stations. The timing depends on how bad the problem is. This is the step store-bought traps skip.
- Keep them out. Coming back is the number one place rodent jobs fail around here. So once things are under control, we drop to regular visits, usually three a year, to re-bait and check activity. Some homes also get entry points sealed at this stage.
Our research team reviews every product we use and has removed 9 of the harshest products common in our industry. And if you see or hear anything between visits, call us. We come back at no extra charge.
Before We Arrive
What Laurel Homeowners Can Do This Week
Bait and traps work much better when rodents are not getting an easy meal somewhere else on the property. The City of Laurel's own advice to residents lines up with what our technicians tell customers:
- Lock up the food. Keep trash covered, and store bird seed, grass seed, and pet food in metal cans with tight lids. A plastic bin is something a rat chews through.
- Clean up after the dog. Pet waste left in the yard is a food source for rats.
- Trim the bushes. Cut shrubs up off the ground and clear out what has collected underneath, so there is no hidden runway along the house.
- Pull the mulch back. Leave a bare strip between the mulch bed and your foundation.
- Talk to the neighbors. On a townhome row or a tight block near Main Street, one open trash can feeds rats for the whole street.
These steps will not clear out rodents that have already moved in, but they make the treatment work faster and hold longer. Our tips to keep mice out go into more detail. If you also want ants, spiders, and other crawling pests covered, see our Laurel pest control plans.
Mouse tracks hugging a brick wall. Rodents run the same line along a foundation night after night
A locked bait box set on the outside wall, where Laurel mice and rats travel
The house mouse is behind most of the rodent calls we get from Laurel
Three generations of the Schulz family have run Better Termite since 1968
Family-owned since 1968 and serving Laurel in Prince George's, Howard, and Anne Arundel counties
Everything We Do
Every service we offer in Laurel — one local team, one phone call.
Core Programs
- Home Pest Control in Laurel
- Termite Control in Laurel
- Rodent Control in Laurel
- Mosquito & Tick Control in Laurel
- Extermination Services in Laurel
- Eco-Friendly Pest Control in Laurel
- Sentricon® Termite Baiting in Laurel
- IN2CARE® Mosquito System in Laurel
- Commercial Pest Control in Laurel
- Pre-Construction Termite Control in Laurel
Insects & Spiders
- Ant Control in Laurel
- Carpenter Ant Control in Laurel
- Sugar Ant Control in Laurel
- Spider Control in Laurel
- Roach Control in Laurel
- German Cockroach Control in Laurel
- Oriental Cockroach Control in Laurel
- American Cockroach Control in Laurel
- Flea Control in Laurel
- Silverfish Control in Laurel
- Carpet Beetle Control in Laurel
- Pantry Pest Control in Laurel
- Stink Bug Control in Laurel
- Lady Bug Control in Laurel
- Boxelder Bug Control in Laurel
- Cricket Control in Laurel
- Tick Control in Laurel
- Earwig Control in Laurel
- Millipede Control in Laurel
- Centipede Control in Laurel
- Pill Bug Control in Laurel
- Springtail Control in Laurel
- Clover Mite Control in Laurel
Stinging & Flying
Rodents & Wildlife
What Our Customers Say
1800+ Reviews on Google "We had a bad cockroach problem - we knew it was bad because of all the baby cockroaches we spotted. It took a while but Better Termite ultimately solved it and our house is cockroach free. Cindy in particular, was quick to help out and made it pain free."
"I highly recommend this company for your home pest control. Their technicians are thorough and have prevented any unwanted problems from happening on our property. During our last treatment, Jasmine took care of our outdoor spider webs without us even asking. Last summer they removed a mud dauber's nest under our deck and above our patio door. That attention to detail speaks volumes. Thank you for taking care of us!"
"The team at Better Termite & Pest control are phenomenal! I feel like my family and my home are in good hands. Everyone I have come into contact with has been responsive, pleasant and professional. The price is right and the service is superb!"
"Joann is amazing! She always takes time to talk with me and check inside boxes. I so appreciate her!! I have been using Better Termite and Pest Management for over 20 years."
"I love Darren over at Better Termite. He is always so attentive and kind, and really goes, IMO, out of his way to do a fantastic job. And I am so happy that I had NO MOSQUITOES this summer in my backyard in spite of the fact that there is a drainage area right behind my house, and that is 100% because of Better Termites services."
"We had a bad cockroach problem - we knew it was bad because of all the baby cockroaches we spotted. It took a while but Better Termite ultimately solved it and our house is cockroach free. Cindy in particular, was quick to help out and made it pain free."
"I highly recommend this company for your home pest control. Their technicians are thorough and have prevented any unwanted problems from happening on our property. During our last treatment, Jasmine took care of our outdoor spider webs without us even asking. Last summer they removed a mud dauber's nest under our deck and above our patio door. That attention to detail speaks volumes. Thank you for taking care of us!"
"The team at Better Termite & Pest control are phenomenal! I feel like my family and my home are in good hands. Everyone I have come into contact with has been responsive, pleasant and professional. The price is right and the service is superb!"
"Joann is amazing! She always takes time to talk with me and check inside boxes. I so appreciate her!! I have been using Better Termite and Pest Management for over 20 years."
"I love Darren over at Better Termite. He is always so attentive and kind, and really goes, IMO, out of his way to do a fantastic job. And I am so happy that I had NO MOSQUITOES this summer in my backyard in spite of the fact that there is a drainage area right behind my house, and that is 100% because of Better Termites services."
How It Works
How Laurel Rodent Control Works
Talk to a Licensed Technician
Call us and describe what you are seeing or hearing. A licensed technician picks up, asks about your Laurel home, and gives you a quote on the phone. No phone tree.
Inspection for Hot Spots
We go through the house and around the outside looking for droppings, gnaw marks, rub marks, and the food and clutter that keep rodents around. That tells us where the activity really is.
Bait Stations Where They Run
Tamper-proof bait stations go near the hot spots. For rats inside the house we lean on snap traps, so a rat does not die somewhere in a wall you cannot reach.
Follow-Ups, Then Long-Term Visits
Early follow-up visits tell us if the bait is being taken and what needs to move. After that, most Laurel homes go to three visits a year, with unlimited free callbacks in between.
Your Local Office
Serving Laurel, MD and the Neighborhoods Around It
Main Street and the historic district, Laurel Lakes, West Laurel, South Laurel, North Laurel, Maryland City, and Russett. ZIP codes 20707, 20708, 20723, and 20724.
Get in Touch
Call Us
703-683-2000Email Us
info@bettertermite.comVisit Our Alexandria (Headquarters) Office
2647 Duke StreetAlexandria, VA 22314
Office Hours
- Mon, Tue, Thu7:30 AM – 7 PM
- Wed, Fri7:30 AM – 8 PM
- Sat, Sun9 AM – 6 PM
Good to Know
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? A licensed local tech picks up at (703) 683-2000.
Our Free Callback Promise
See pests between scheduled visits? We come back and retreat at no extra cost — as many times as it takes. No binding contracts, cancel anytime with 30 days notice.